


Bound Upon A Wheel of Fire

by Lil_Lola_Blue



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 04:30:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6551074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_Lola_Blue/pseuds/Lil_Lola_Blue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben Solo was born holding his sister's hand, and he was never quite able to let go of her. Vala Solo was born with the universe inside her, when she only wanted to be a  fast-talking space pirate, like her father. Ben was a mystic. Vala a maverick. Ben was a Skywalker. Vala was a Solo. Ben believed in the Force. Vala believed in a good blaster at her side & a good right hook.  Ben embraced the Jedi way. Vala ran from it. Ben feared the Dark Side. Vala was strong in both sides of the Force and struck a balance between them. Ben worshiped Darth Vader. Vala turned to Anakin Skywalker, to show her how to make her way. Ben was weak. Vala was strong enough for both of them. Ben lived like a monk. Vala like a Pirate Queen. Ben was jealous of the light that lived in his sister. He tried to keep it all to himself, and failed. Shame shattered Ben. Fury made Vala stronger. Ben turned to the Dark Side. Vala kept her balance in the Force and joined the Resistance. For if Kylo Ren was to meet his end, then Ben Solo would die, holding his sister's hand. And if armies rose and fell, if planets were created and deserted, if the fate of the galaxy hung in the balance of Ben and Vala Solo? So be it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ben tries to cover his darkness in stolen light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Author’s Note: Okay, gang. This story is going to get pretty dark, pretty fast. Without spoiling I want to say that there won’t be any sexy stuff going on. In fact, what goes on will be anything but. This fic is about the the banality of evil and how sometimes when love conquers all, it breeds obsession, hate and ruin. So everybody put on your Everything Is Turing Into Shit Hats and don’t say I didn’t warn you. And if you didn’t see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, SPOILER ALERT!)

**CHAPTER ONE: ONE SOUL  
**

**The Millennium Falcon, En-Route to Coruscant, a few years after the death of Darth Vader**

As usual, Han Solo was up against it, and so was his ship.

The fuel tank was leaking, so he only had enough to power one engine, the power was on the fritz, and Leia was delivering their kid two weeks early.

In space.

And him and Chewie and Leia were the only people on the ship.

So far.

The lights dimmed again, and Han smacked his head on the drawer of the cabinet above his bed, in his cabin.

“Chewie, can you try and keep the karking ship level? I’m trying to do something important in here!”

Leia grabbed hold of his balls in a far less friendly way than he was accustomed to her doing.

“You’re trying to do something important in here? You are? Your part’s already over and done with, laser brain!” she snarled.

“Hey, baby, take it easy, now. I know you’re doing the hard part. I just meant, I don’t know bantha shit about delivering babies. You better let go, or I’ll be out of commission and you’ll have to do it, yourself.”

Leia let go of his balls, sat up, and slapped Han in the face.

That was an improvement.

“I am doing it myself! Now, help me get out of this bed!”

“Why?”

“Because it’s easier to give birth when you squat down than when you lie down.”

“It is?”

Leia smacked him again.

“Owww! Listen, your Worship, I’m not the hired help! I’m the husband, here, and the father! Stop slapping me around, or I’ll go fly the ship and you can get Chewie to help you with the delivery!”

“Can we do that? It would be so much better. After all, he already has a wife, and children, So I’m sure he knows much more about this than you do!” Leia shouted at Han.

Han looked hurt.

“Never mind. Just listen to what I tell you to do, and don’t give me any lip. You don’t have much to do.  I’m going to have to hang onto your shoulders, so, bend your knees.”

“What?”

Leia grabbed his shoulders and shoved him down a little.

“Stay there. Don’t say anything to me. Don’t fall over. And catch the baby. Do you think you can handle that?”

Han smiled his cocky grin.

“Well, yeah.” He said.

It was unnerving for him, to hear Leia scream like that, and she almost drove his to his knees, the way she pushed down on his shoulders.

The ship took another nose dive, and the lights flickered.

“Time…to… catch.” Leia said, through clenched teeth.

Han wasn’t sure what normal was supposed to look like, just then, but he didn’t see anything good. 

“By the Force! There’s blood all over…everything! And goo! Is that normal?”

“Just catch the kid, you karking idiot!” 

“Oh shit, she’s all over blood, too! Is that bad? Do I cut this thing?”

“Yes. You do.”

“Wait, Lemme get my pocketknife…okay…Hey! She’s crying! Leia, we did it! It’s a girl! Do you wanna hold her? Should you get back in bed? What happens now?”

“Something’s wrong, Han. The pains are still coming! They’re worse!”

“Well, she’s got hold of something. I hope it isn’t anything important. I’m gonna have another look….Leia! It’s a little hand! You’re having twins!”

“Han, I am NOT having twins! The medical droid said there would be one baby.”

“Yeah, well, the medical droid was fulla shit. You tell that to the other kid. Okay, uh…one more push and I swear, honey, we’ll get you another implant as soon as we get home. I’ll never do this to you, again. Two kids is good enough for me.”

“Oh, I have to get an implant? Another one? I’ve got news for you, flyboy. Vasectomy.”

Leia screamed, again.

“Holy shit! It’s a boy! It’s a boy!”

Han had a look of absolute wonder in his eyes, cradling a crying baby in both his arms.

Leia was exhausted, but it made her smile.

“Look at this? We made a boy, and a girl!”

Han hit the intercom button on the wall.

“Chewie, get on the radio! Tell Luke it’s a boy, and a girl. And tell him we need a whole shitload of medical droids! And put her on auto! I need help back here!”

Chewbacca put the Falcon on autopilot, picked Leia up, put her in bed, and covered her up, and Han put both babies in her arms.

He got in the bed with her.

“Look at this, Chewie.  Two kids! All in one shot!”

“That’s your style. Congratulations, partner.” Chewbacca barked.

He and Han both laughed and then Chewie went back to the controls.

“What do you want to name them, Han?” Leia asked.

“Me? I get to pick?”

“Sure. You’re their father.”

“Well, my mother’s name was Vala. Vala Solo. My father’s name is anybody’s guess. But a few minutes ago, I kinda made a deal with that crazy old wizard Kenobi that I’d name my son after him if you and the baby made it, alright.”

“He’s not here.” Leia said, tersely.

She was looking into the corner, where the force ghost of a huge, black-haired beast of a man in Jedi robes was pacing. 

“What?” Han asked.

Leia looked away.

“Never mind. Good thing we had a son, too. It would be awkward for our daughter, being called Ben.”

“Vala Leia Solo, and Ben, uh, Ben Anakin Solo. How about that?”

“Change it to Vala Anakin Solo, and Ben Organa Solo, and you’ve got a deal.”

“Why?”

“Just a feeling, Han. Trust me, okay? Other than that?  It sounds good. I like those names.  Thank you. And I’m sorry I was slapping you around.”

That cocky grin, again.

“Hey, no sweat, Leia. Don’t mention it. It’s my job, right?”

“Look, Han. They’re still holding hands.”

“Yeah. She just won’t let go of him. You won’t let go of little brother, huh, Vala? 

That’s good. They’re not gonna be like you an’ Luke, Leia. I promise.”

“I know.”

* * *

  
**Five Years Later  
**

Ben Solo looked around the doorway.

“We are going to be in so much trouble, Vala!”

“Relax, Ben! Don’t be such a candy ass, willya? Anybody comin. Sal, is anybody comin’.”

“No, Vala.” Sal Nova told her.

Loyally.

Vala reached into the pocket of her Uncle Luke’s flight jacket.

She took out a wad of credits and replaced it with a note.

_Uncle Luke,_  
Me and Ben aren’t leaving school. But I can’t stand being here all the time and never going home, and Ben is kind of homesick. Dad said he would fly us here every day, no problem.  
I promise Mom will pay you back this money.  
Don’t worry about me and Ben, it’s a real short trip to Coruscant, and R7-D4 is an old pro, he could do this run in his sleep.  
Also, I’m making sure to take my X-wing, so I’m not, you know, stealing.  
I know it’s not technically mine, yet, but Chewbacca and Dad say I have salvage rights.  
Me and Ben will see you on Monday.  
Vala  
P.S. I talked this over with my grandfather and Papa says it’s okay. So, technically, I have an adult’s permission, and I’m sure he’ll give me a hand, if I need it, flying home.  


  
Vala shoved the money into her pocket, and crept out the door.

“Okay. Everything is go. Come on, D-4.”

The veteran astromech droid followed after his young mistress, bleeping softly.

Vala reached for Ben’s hand and though he had his doubts, he took her hand.

“You with me, Ben?”

“Yeah. I’m with you, Vala. I think you’re crazy. I think this is crazy. I think we’re going to get killed when we get home, and killed again when we come back. Whether Grandfather Anakin said we can go, or not. But I’m with you.”

“He said should. He said we SHOULD go home. I toleja, Ben. Quit bein’ such a candy ass. Do you hear Sal complainin’? No. C’mon, let’s go.”

* * *

***  
Han would never tell Leia, but he was so proud that his ten year old daughter was smart enough to break out of the Jedi Academy dorm, steal some money from Luke, commandeer and drive a speeder, and then fly an X-Wing from one planet to another. 

At ten.

The kid was a genius.

The only reason she couldn’t go right to their front door was that she and Ben had some trouble at the spaceport.

Naturally, the spaceport contacted the Solos, and, naturally, Vala and Ben left D4 to guard her X-wing, and made a break for it.

In a spaceport courtesy speeder, which they dumped about two blocks from the dive Han and Chewie liked to congregate in.

They’d serve just about anybody in there, but not ten -year old kids.

Vala was up on Ben’s shoulders, trying to get in through a window, when Han caught up with her.

“Having some trouble, Vala?”

She climbed down.

Ben looked scared.

Real scared.

But Vala fired the old Solo grin at her father, and stated talking.

“Aww, Dad, these karking idiots won’t let me inna bar. Look, lemme tell you, straight. I don’t want to go back to Jedi school. I wanna go to the Republic Academy.  Who the hell wants to be a karking Jedi? Just dopey Ben. I wanna be a pilot. I wanna get a ship that’ll do the Kessel run in ten parsecs. I’m not going back. If you and Mom send me back, I’ll escape, again.”

“I’m not dopey! Becoming a Jedi is not dopey! But if you’re not going back? Neither am I.”

As usual, Ben had Vala by the hand.

“Shut up, Ben. You’re a goddamn child. You can go back. I just don’t wanna. I mean, of course you wanna go back. You don’t know any better, little brother.”

“Why do you always talk to me like I’m some dumb kid? I’m only five minutes younger than you! And this was a lousy idea. Mom’s gonna kill us. And Uncle Luke is going to murder us. And we’re going to get arrested. We stole this speeder!”

“It said it was a courtesy speeder. I tried to rent it an’ pay for it, Dad. And they gave me shit. So I put the money on the counter and took the speeder. Anyway, Ben doesn’t wanna stay there, either. Some of these kids don’t have parents. We do.”

“I know, Vala. I don’t want you to go if you don’t want to. And I don’t see why you and Ben hafta stay, either. I can take you to that Jedi school and back, again. No problem. Speak for yourself Ben. Do you want to come home from school at night? And stay on weekends?” Han asked his son.

“I wanna be a Jedi. But I don’t wanna stay away.”

“Okay. Then you can come home.”

“Good. Come on Sal.” Ben said

Han spun around.

Trotting right along behind Ben and Vala was Sal Nova.

He didn’t have any parents; they were a couple of old-fashioned Corellian pirates, and they had gone out the way a pirate would want to, when Sal was about five. 

Sal was Ben and Vala’s best friend.

He had nowhere else to go, so when Vala and Ben came home, Sal came with them. 

“Sal, you hafta go back.” Han told him.

“Aww, shit, no. Mr. Solo.I’m not goin. I’m staying with Val. An’ Ben.  Can’t I come home with you?”

Han thought about it.

Sal was always around the house, anyway.

“Yeah, well. I’m not applying for any licenses for you. Or filling out any karking forms. You’re just coming home and living with us. Okay?”

Sal nodded.

“Alright, you three. Get in.”

“Can I drive, Dad?”

“You sure can, Princess. I’m real proud of you. You really know how to look after yourself. And Ben. And Sal even.”

Han  considered the matter settled, and took the kids home.

* * *

**Mos Eisley Cantina, ten years later.**

  
The greying russet Wookie went flying across the cantina, and hit the far wall.

Captain Vala Anakin Solo, Jedi School dropout, youngest ever graduate of the Republic Academy, including the Old Republic Academy, of the infamous _Starkiller,_ a Corellian freighter that made the Kessel Run in 11 parsecs, stalked across the cantina after him.

Before the Wookie could stand up, she balled both if her small fists together in one big fist and punched him in the throat.

She had used a force push to shove him away from the bar, but she liked to put that personal touch on the end of all her fights.

The Wookie went to get up and she pointed an accusing finger at him, pinning him to the spot.

She drew her blaster with her other hand.

“Try it, nerf karker. You saw what happened to your Rodain friend, din’cha? I’ll blast a hole in you big enough to put my fist through your head. Now, I suggest you get the kart out of Mos Eisley, before I turn you into a throw rug for my cabin on the _Starkiller_.”

The Wookie got up as soon as he let him, and made tracks.

“Son of a bantha!” Vala swore.

She swing the long rope of her long black braid from over her shoulder to down her back, stepping over a smoking pile of diced Rodian that she had just prepared with her lightsaber, and returned to her table.

Where her brother, Ben, and her partner, Sal, were both sitting.

Tattoine was Vala’s home base.

Life was easier for somebody like her, out in the Outer Rim.

Nobody asked you any questions.

“This place gets rougher every day, Ben. It’s getting so I almost hafta meet you at the Jedi School.”

“Vala, you’re not supposed to use the Force like that. Not unless you want to turn to the Dark Side.”

“I keep telling her that. She never listens.” Sal broke in. 

“Shit, you know I don’t buy all that happy crappy, Ben. I never did. Look, as far as the Force goes, I feel it. And when I feel it? I feel it. I don’t philosophize about it.  I can do what I can do, and when I need to do it? I do it. For me. And mine. End of story. I’m not a Jedi, I’m a starpilot. A businesswoman. A damn good one, too. I mean, Dark Side? Light Side? Kark that. Bantha shit. I’m on one side. My side. Look at you, with your hair all chopped off and that dopey braid! Like you were nobody. Like you were just some jerk-off junior Jedi, instead of Ben Solo.”

“I’m not nobody. I’m Luke Skywalker’s padawan. It’s important, Vala. It’s important to me. Can’t you have some respect for my beliefs, because they’re important to me, even if you think it’s all bantha shit?”

Vala swallowed the rest of her drink, and rolled her eyes.

“Gimme a break, huh, Ben? Give yourself a break. What do you want to kark around with all that shit for? It did our grandfather a lot of good, didn’t it?  If he woulda stayed a starpilot, and a damn good one, the whole world woulda been better off. You’re not cut out for it, Ben. You’ve got too much of Han Solo and Darth Vader in you to be some kinda karking monk. Hey, I’m your big sister. I know you.”

She leaned over and  tapped on his forehead.

“Don’t do that!”

“Shut up! I’m in there with you. Just like you’re in here, with me. I always have been. I always will be. Sal, why dontcha go and check and see if we left the landing gear in the right position. Or something. I gotta talk to Ben, privately.”

“Okay, Vala. For what it’s worth, Ben, I think Vala’s right about herself, and wrong about you. But you deserve a little vacation. You should make this next run with us. Have a good time. Blow off some steam. Make a little money. Think about it.”

Sal had been a runt of a boy, but he had grown up to be over six feet tall, a big, red-haired, red-bearded bear of a man.

Sal had finished his Jedi training, as a youngling, and he followed the Jedi path, but he had left the Academy when Vala had, and gone to the Republic Academy, with her.

Uncle Luke said Vala was troubled, and that she had left the Jedi Academy because her path to becoming a Jedi would be long, wayward, and her own, and that he shouldn’t try to dissuade her from it. 

He was only partly right.

Ben knew his sister better; she wasn’t troubled, she was trouble.

Vala was a two fisted drinker, a two fisted fighter, and she rarely met a swaggering fellow pirate that she didn’t like, at least for an hour or so.

But Sal didn’t care about that.

And Vala didn’t care about any of the men she knew, or met, or ever would meet, except for Sal.

Sal Nova was Vala’s partner, in every sense of the word.

She probably loved him, although she’d never own up to that. 

Ben was jealous of that.

Not so much of Sal, but of what he was to Vala.

Of what all of these men had been to Vala.

Ben had a problem.

He loved his sister as much as Sal did, and in the same way.

The way a man loved a woman, as well as the way a brother loved his sister.

He was afraid to tell that to Uncle Luke, that he loved his sister just a little too much.

But he would never say or do anything about it.

Something like that would be a gateway to the Dark Side.

Vala knew about it, of course.

They didn’t have secrets.

She forgave him, she understood, but she wasn’t willing to let it go any further than that.

But Ben figured he might as well be a Jedi, because he could never marry the woman he loved.

Even so, he worried about Vala.

All the time.

Vala took Ben’s hand.

“Hey, little brother, don’t bantha-shit me. I know you. I know all about you. Even the things you don’t want me to. That thing you’re hiding, in the dark places in your soul? It’s gonna turn you, Ben. And if it’s not that, it’ll be the Dark in you. Like the Dark in me. I’ve found a way to balance it out, but you? You’re a True Believer. You couldn’t do it. Come with me. Uncle Luke’s wife is pregnant. Let his kid be the Great White Hope. I need you, at my side. You’re my brother.”

Ben wanted to say yes.

He really did.

“I can’t, Vala. It’s not just what I want. It’s my destiny. To become a Jedi. Like my Uncle, and my grandfather before me.”

“That’s the part that worries me, Ben.”

“Don’t worry, Vala. I am strong in the Force. As a Jedi, not a Sith. But…”

Ben smiled.

“I can go with you on this run. In fact, Dad says if I don’t go with you, I shouldn’t ever bother to come home, again. He says you’re getting into some really serious shit.”

“Really, Ben? You’re coming with us? What about Uncle Luke?”

“He’s given me his permission. He really didn’t want to, but I convinced him, in the end.”

“You’re not gonna be all sanctimonious with me for the next six months are you, Ben? Because I’ll beat you up like I did when we were kids. I will.”

“I won’t be sanctimonious. I promise.”

Vala grinned hers and their father’s cocky grin, at him, and sat back across her chair and the one next to it.

“That’s great, Ben! I really need you on this one, but I wasn’t gonna beg.  You got your gear with you?”

“It’s already on the Starkiller. Why?”

“Well, that Wookie is gonna be back soon. With some friends of his that ain’t friends of ours. It’s time to go.”

Ben couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay, Vala. I’m going. Right now.”

“Good. Come on, D-4. We need to make tracks.” 

* * *

**  
Vala Solo’s Cabin, the Starkiller, Three Months Later**

  
Vala took another swig of the Huttese whiskey, draining the bottle.

She swore and threw it at the dark-haired, blue eyed, six and a half foot tall hulk of a Jedi knight sitting in the chair opposite her.

The bottle passed right through him, and shattered on the hull of the ship.

“I don’t care who you are, you don’t get to say things like that to me!”

“I am the only one who will say things like this to you! Search your feelings. You know it to be true.”

“He’s my brother!”

“You don’t care about that any more than Ben does. In fact, you care less. However, you don’t have the obsessive depth of feeling, the desire for possession that your brother has for you. You can take the feeling you have for Ben, or leave it. He does not have that luxury. These feelings will destroy him. If he will not tell either of my children, you must. Tell your mother. Or Luke. They must know. Ben needs help. And you can’t give it to him.”

Vala got up.

“Papa, I can’t do that! They’ll think there’s’ something wrong with Ben!”

“There is. And it must be righted. I can’t even speak to him, anymore. I can no longer reach him.”

“Then you tell Uncle Luke. Just don’t tell Mom!”

Anakin Skywalker let out a deep sigh.

“Your mother is not on speaking terms with me. And I have spoken of this, to Luke. He will not believe me. I have tried. He says that I am mistaken. If you will not speak to your Uncle, then you should not spend so much time with your brother. The less, the better.”

“You don’t hafta worry about that, Papa. I hardly ever see him. We’ll be home in a month or two, anyway.”

“Don’t see him at all. Not for a few years. Not until he has become a Jedi. Until he has become a man, and come to terms with his feelings. You must listen to me, my grand-daughter. My padawan. Of all that I have ever told you to do, this is the most important! You must listen!”

“I know. I’ll do it.”

“Watch your brother, carefully, these next few months. Ben is becoming a desperate man. And he is greedy in his obsessive desire to possess you, utterly. Greedy, desperate men often do desperate things, Vala.”

“I’ll be careful, Papa.”

Anakin shook his head.

“I have a bad feeling about this, Vala. A very bad feeling, indeed.”

***  
Ben Solo stood in the galley, looking at the mug of Corellian ale his sister had sent him to draw from the keg.

His hand was shaking.

He had lied to Vala.

Uncle Luke told him not to go.

He told him not to even say goodbye to Vala, not to see her, at all, until his training was complete.

Ben hadn’t listened.

And when Vala was in conference with the russet Wookiee and the now-dead Rodian, he bought a little something, from a man at the bar, in the Mos Eisley Cantina. 

He looked at the vial of liquid in his hand.

It wouldn’t make Vala lose consciousness, but it would, as the man had said, “put your girl on another world.”

_Just once._

_I will be able to forget about it, then, and these thoughts, these feelings, they will torment me, no longer._

_Vala won’t really be upset; she’s an amoral nihilist, after all._

“Hey, Ben? What are you karking about with?”

“I was just thinking, Vala.”

“Don’t think to yourself. Its’ no good for you. Bring me my drink and we’ll work it out.”

_Yes, Vala.  
_

_We will._

Closing his mind to doubt, and his eyes to his actions, Ben Solo poured the contents of the vial he had bought in Most Eisley into Vala’s mug.

( **Warning to Sensitive Readers: Bad shit is going to happen, now.  It will not be explicitly described. But if you have issues with this subject matter, STOP READING NOW!** )

* * *

***  
It wouldn’t be the first time that Vala awoke naked, in bed, not too sure about what had happened and with who, only that she’d had a good time.

Well, she knew who.

“Hey, Sal, what the hell are you crying, for? I’m just a little drunk. I didn’t miss anything. Jesus, that must have been the good stuff, in the bottom of the keg. Meanwhile, what the kark did you have for dinner? Whatever it is, you should have it, every night, Sal. Sal? Hey, Sal?”

Vala sat up.

There was a man in bed with her, but he was sitting up, with his legs on the floor and his head in his hands, weeping.

Only it wasn’t Sal.

Sal was an inch or so shorter, and barrel-chested.

And he didn’t have black hair.

It was Ben. 

Somehow, she’d ended up in bed with Ben.

Her own brother.

And liked it. 

Vala felt sick, and not just in her soul.

She felt physically sick, dizzy, nauseated, panicked, like she might puke and scream, and pass out, and maybe not in that order.

She didn’t know what to say.

Or what do to.

Her first reaction was anger, blind, naked agression, and she raised her hand, thinking she would smack him from one wall to the other until she could see his brains.

Or choke the life out of him, slowly, pointing her pitiless hand at his throat and watching  the light go out of his eyes.

Vala ignored the violent impulse for revenge and she stopped herself from screaming at him, in outrage, too.

She went to that place in her mind, where Ben lived, and it was Dark.

Very Dark, indeed.

Ben’s sobs grew louder.

Vala decided she would be angry, later, and disgusted, later.

Right now?

Her little brother needed her to be strong.

She was the strong one, after all.

Vala took a deep breath, and reached for his hand, closing her small hand around the thumb of his big paw.

“Don’t cry, Ben. Come on, space is cold. Get back under the covers.”

“I’m sorry, Vala! I’m so sorry! What have I done?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

Ben got back under the covers.

“I put something in your drink. To eliminate your inhibitions.”

“Well, that worked. What was it?”

“I don’t know. Something I bought in Most Eisley. At the Cantina. And I lied. Uncle Luke told me not to come with you. He told me not to even say goodbye to you. That I shouldn’t see you until I had completed my training. I though the Light in me would be strong enough, Vala. But it wasn’t. And now I’ve done something unforgivable. I’m turned.”

“You’re not turned, Ben. You didn’t kill anybody. You didn’t make any Sith Lords any promises. And nothing is unforgivable. We can work all this out. Don’t give up and become Darth Ben, just because you did one bad thing, in your whole life of being a super goody two-shoes. We can just…just…forget about it. I have an implant, so there won’t be a kid. Sal’s in his cabin, sound asleep. And there’s nobody else here on this ship but you, and me. Nobody has to know. I won’t tell anybody. And it;ll never happen again. Never.”

“Not ever?”

“Not ever. Not unless you want to die. Slowly. And painfully. Ben, you do know that it was wrong, though, don’t you?”

“The part where I drugged your drink, or the…other part.”

“Maybe you should have talked to me about it, first, Ben, yeah. I mean, I might have understood. I don’t know. But you should have let me make that choice, and if you didn’t like the way I made it? You shoulda lived with it, anyway. You can’t go around doing shit like this to women. It’s illegal, for one thing. And it’s not like you. I’m not mad. Well, No, I am mad. But not mad enough to eject you into space, or anything. And I don’t think you’re some kinda monster. But thsi was a bad idea. A real bad idea. And you gotta know, this was…jsut a wrong, no-good, bad idea. All around.”

Vala struggled not to shout, or to use accusatory words.

_He might have given me the karking solace of having it be a definitive rape. Now I’ll have to live the rest of my life and die knowing that I slept with my brother and I liked it._

Ben looked crushed.

“Shit, Ben, I didn’t mean for you to hear that.” _  
_

“Vala, you have me all wrong. I would never think of doing anything to harm you like…taking you by force! I know that drugging you was wrong. But I still don’t feel like it was wrong for us to make love. There was nothing wrong with what we did. It was beautiful. You are beautiful. Don;t let all this…karking bullshit that applies to regular people make you feel guilty. Or shame. We are not ordinary people, Vala, We are above their understanding, their rules, and their laws.   I love you, Vala. Truly. With great passion, and great purity. Like a saint, on fire with inspiration. You are the Light, Vala. I don’t think you know how brightly the Light burns in you. It shines from you as if you were ten thousand suns. And I am so cold. And so Dark. And you know I would never have done it if I didn’t know you had some of the same kind of  feelings for me.”

“Well, I wasn’t ever gonna act on them, Ben!”

“Why?”

“Whaddya mean, why? Because you don’t do things like this! Nobody does! It’s wrong, Ben. You’re my brother. Don’t you know that?”

“Who says? Why should it be wrong? Kings and queens and princes are always marrying their relatives. Even brother and sister. You know who’s telling us it’s wrong for us to be together? All the people who say the rest of the things you don’t care about.  Like you said, it’s nothing. You have an implant. And nobody has to know.”

“Are you trying to make some kind of deal with yourself. Ben?”

“No. I’m trying to make some kind of deal with you. I’ll stay with you, Vala. You and Sal. He doesn’t have to know. I won’t stand in his way. But I’ll stay with you, forever. It’ll be you and me. Always. No more days, weeks, months, years apart. We’ll always be together.”

Ben took both Vala’s hands.

“You mean it, Ben? You won’t leave me, anymore?”

“I know how much it hurts you, when I go away. I’m tired of hurting you. And myself. You were right. Let Uncle Luke’s daughter be the Great White Hope. This is how I’ll strike my balance, between the Light and the Dark in me. I’ll stay a starpilot, a damn good one. And the whole galaxy will be better for it. I thought that I was strong enough to resist the power of the Dark Side. But I’m not. You can help me, Vala. Let me be one, with your light.”

Vala thought about the pain of being without Ben, day after day, month after month.

If they went back, it would be years that she didn’t see him.

She and Ben were like one soul in two bodies, at one time, they had been one soul, even the medical droids hadn’t known their mother was going to have twins.

They couldn’t be any closer than they already were.

Maybe Ben was right.

Maybe they were so close, their bond was so extraordinary, it didn’t matter if they did this.

She never said so, but the pain of being without Ben was horrible; no amount of booze, or fast ships, or cheap thrills could wash it away.

And Vala thought about the pain of the whole galaxy, if he went to the Dark Side.

She allowed herself to feel the conflict seething within him, and the old pain that tore the galaxy apart, the pain her grandfather had caused.

The residue of it still lingered, it had soaked into the dark matter of space.

It was everywhere, all the time and Vala always let it linger, just outside her consciousness.

But she opened her mind to it, now.

The agony was insurmountable and unbelievable.

An ocean of blood, a mountain of corpses.

What if it all began, again?

The senseless deaths, the wholesale murder, probably starting with the deaths, no, the murders of their parents.

Of Uncle Luke and his wife.

Of their little daughter.

And only she had the power to stop it.

_I can do this._

_Ben doesn’t know it, but I am the Dark, and the Light._

_I am the strong one._

_I have to do this._

_It’s not so bad._

_Royalty do it all the time._

_And, technically, Ben and I are a Prince and a Princess._

“Vala?”

“Ben, I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do.”

Ben took her hand.

“Let me love you. Let me save you. From your drunkenness, and your promiscuity, and all the chances you take, just to prove to yourself that it doesn’t hurt. When it does.I know your pain, Vala, I know you feel the terrible, unbound suffering of every soul, living or dead, in all the galaxy. And that it’s nothing, compared to your own. I can take your pain away. You were right. We belong together. And we will be together. For always. Like you always say. Dark side? Light side? Kark it. Bantha shit. Our side.”

“Our side, Ben? Really?”

“Really, Vala. Always.”

She smiled at him, and his worried face dissolved into a grin.

She could feel the Dark in him, receding.

It was working, already.


	2. Lost, Stolen, Sold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are dire consequences, and Vala lets go of Ben's hand.

**CHAPTER TWO: LOST, STOLEN, SOLD**

After three months without hearing from Ben or Vala, Luke and Leia began to worry.

After six months, Han began to worry, too.

In a year’s time, Han and Chewie began following the _Starkiller’_ s trail, but they were always a few steps behind.

After another six month of chasing them, Han got the idea that his kids didn’t want to be found.

He didn’t get as worked up about it as Leia did.

They were both just kids, they just wanted to go off and have a little fun.

And Luke, he practically shit a bantha.

But Han wasn’t worried.

He said they’d be back, soon enough.

Sometimes, he hated being right.

                                                                       ***

They were on their way back from Naboo, all of them, in the Falcon, when the faint, crackling message came from the Starkiller.

“…is Ben Solo to Han Solo. This is Ben Solo, calling Han Solo. Can you hear me? This is Ben Solo, to Han Solo.”

“Yeah, I read you, Ben. Where the hell are you? What’s going on? When are you two coming home? Are you in trouble? If you are, I don’t care. I’ll dump your mother and your Uncle Luke back on Coruscant and I’ll get you out of it. My way.”

“I’m on Tatooine. At Vala’s house, in Anchorhead. We’re in so much trouble, Dad. So much karking trouble.  It’s bad. She’s sick. I think she might be dying. We need help.”

“Sick? Sick from what? Vala never gets sick. Ben?”

“You were right, Uncle Luke. You were right. I put out her light. And now Vala’s going to die.”

Luke leaned over the console.

“Ben, the light of the Force can’t be put out. I can save Vala. I will save Vala. And you can still be saved. I will help you, I will save you. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Ben.” Luke told him.

The signal petered out.

“This is what I was afraid of!” Luke said

“What, Luke? What?” Han demanded.

“I don’t know how to tell you this. Han. Or you, either, Leia. Its’ why I never stopped looking for them. I thought he was wrong.”

“Who was wrong, Luke?” Leia insited.

“Our father.”

“Vader? I agree with you, Luke. He was wrong. That prick? He was wrong!” Han interrupted.

“Shut up, Han. Tell me, Luke. What was Ben talking about, he put out the light in Vala? What did he do?”

“I always sensed a darkness in Vala, and Ben. I never pursued Vala, after she left the Academy, because she found a way to strike a balance in the Force, within herself. Father helped her. He is her master, not I. Vala is the Dark and the Light, in equal amounts. She has her own path to follow to becoming a Jedi.  I assumed that as she got older, and wiser, she’d either finish her Jedi training, or go into politics. Or maybe semi-legitimate business, with you, Han. But I kept Ben close to me. Because I sensed the darkness in him, growing, every day. And his struggle, to keep it at bay. I tried to get him to confide in me, and he refused. And I couldn’t reach him, without breaking his mind, utterly. That was how deeply he buried his secret. I still don’t know if he told Father, or if Father was able to see it in him. But father appeared to me, and told me the source of Ben’s deep conflict.”

Luke took a deep breath.

“He’s in love with his sister.”

All the color drained from Leia’s face.

“By the Force! He took her away, Han!  Far away. So he could…I can’t say it. I can’t even think it. It’s too terrible! Whats’ the matter with Ben? is he sick? Is he crazy?”

“Whaddya mean, in love with his sister? What’s that supposed to mean?” Han insisted.

“Luke, please. Don’t spell it out for us. You know what he means, Han. You heard Ben admit as much, just now. You heard him say it!” Leia shouted.

“That little bastard! That dirty little bastard! I’ll kill him! I’ll karking kill him!” Han exploded.

“That’s not going to help!” Leia snapped at him.

“Don’t you feel the same?” Han asked.

“Yes! But It won’t help!”

“I know! But what else am I gong to do?”

“I underestimated the lengths that Ben would go to for this…obsession.” Luke floundered, interrupting Han and Leia.

“Yeah, well, Vala’s a good girl. So, maybe we have to get Ben a doctor, or something, maybe he’s a little screwed up. But she would never let him do it. Right?”

“What if Ben told her that she was the only thing that could keep him from turning to the Dark Side? What if Vala thought that Ben could become another Vader, and cause the deaths, the suffering of countless millions? Starting with us? All of us. Even the youngest. What if Ben told her this meant that they would never have to be apart, again, not even for another day? That it would just be them, and Sal, whizzing around the Outer Rim, playing pirates, for always. What if he told her that? Always? What if he believed it, too?” Luke demanded.

Han seemed to collapse into himself, like he had deflated.

Leia began to cry.

Han held her against his chest.

“It’s okay, Leia. We’ll fix this. Somehow. I mean, we can’t be the first family to ever have trouble like this? Kids are dumb. Especially boys. They make mistakes. And Luke says he knows how to fix it? Poor Vala. Something like that, it would make you sick, inside, wouldn’t it, Luke? Sick enough that you’d just say, kark it. And you’d take another chance, a bigger chance. And you’d have another drink, and another drink. Tell yourself it was okay. Tell yourself that you had to do it. Tell yourself it was what you wanted. But it would make you sick, in your soul. Sick in your soul, and weak in your body. Sick enough to just curl up and die. And Ben? The dumb bastard thought he had a great idea, he thought everything would be find? But he’s seen how it isn’t. He sees how he’s killing her, a little bit at a time. And he knows it’s his fault. Are you sure, Luke? Sure you can fix this?”

“There’s still time. Han. And there’s still hope. We can fix this. We can.” Luke assured him.

 “I don’t know, Luke. Some things can’t be fixed.” Leia said.

  Han didn’t want to agree, but he was thinking the same thing.

   They sped towards Tattoine.

                                                                                   ***

 In his mind, everything was going to work out for the best.

 In reality?

Well, the first two or three months, maybe even the first four or six months, everything had gone well.

Vala’s life was one of adventure and excitement.

And money.

Ben had never thought much about money, but when you’re a pirate, even a pirate for the New Republic, everything centers on getting the goods, getting the money, and getting away with it.

Ben was disturbed by the amount of lying, stealing, cheating and indeed, killing that Vala did.

But the “badguys” as Vala called them, that they encountered were truly bad guys.

Outlaws, torch-bearers for the Old Empire, and generally the worst kind of slime in the galaxy.

It was easier, though, Vala’s way.

You did what you had to do, and you didn’t think twice about it, because it was either that, or you were dead.

Dead or so deep in trouble that no credentials that you were in the service of the Republic would ever save you.

At first, Ben had a wonderful time, and so did Vala.

They were so happy.

Like they had been, when they were children.

But then guilt began to set in.

Ben was guilty about leaving Jedi school, guilty about becoming a pirate, guilty about all the lying and cheating and stealing and killing.

And he was guilty about what he was doing to Vala.

To.

Not with.

To.        

He had come, over the past year to understand that she had never had the same feelings for him, that she had talked herself into it, for his sake.

And for the sake of every sentient being in the galaxy.

Dad had often said that he was a Skywalker and Vala was a Solo, and that was why they would never see perfectly eye to eye.

And carrying on with great bravado, no matter what?

That was the Solo way.

But even a Solo’s bravado only goes so far.

Ben was wrong, about so much.

For one thing, Vala wasn’t less of a drunk, less reckless, or less promiscuous than she had been.

Everything about her that was bad had gotten worse.

Vala took on jobs that were just this side of suicidal, and just this side of violating her secret agreements with the Republic.

For one thing, she had stopped communicating with their mother, who was her liaison to the Republic.

That was the least of it.

Vala started drinking with her breakfast, and she kept drinking all day.

When they went to bars, she would drink until she was stupefied, puking on her shoes, and at some time before she got to that state she’d pick a fight or three, break something, make trouble.

Sal frequently had to carry her out of any place they sold booze, of any sort, because if Sal didn’t, two or three men would.

Vala would do things like that, go off, drunk, with two or three men, and not return to her home for a week.

Some of them would come back around, and she’d chase them away.

There were even increasingly many times he had to take over flying the _Starkiller_ , because Vala would fall onto the ground.

Lately, she had taken to wearing black, a black mask, even, and force-choking those who crossed her to the point of unconsciousness.

Then she’d laugh at him.

Not at them.

At Ben.

She’d look at him, and laugh.

Sometimes, though, she’d wear Jedi robes, even though she wasn’t one.

And give him the same laugh.

Vala was often so drunk that Ben had to remind her to bathe, to change her clothes, to wash her hair.

Sometimes she’d let him or Sal help her.

Sometimes she’d get angry.

She never got angry enough at Sal to hit him, but she got angry enough to hit Ben, frequently.

She’d his him somewhere it wouldn’t show, and give him a big bruise, then point at it and laugh at him, later.

Ben knew it was his fault, it was what he had done to her, and he wanted to stop, but, perversely, she wouldn’t let him.

Like he was a dog, and she was rubbing his nose in his mistakes.

She’d taunt him about not wanting her, anymore, and go right ahead, anyway.

“It’s what you did to me, Ben? How does it feel?”

Recently, Ben had become physically incapable, and every day, on the days of the week she did not spend with Sal, his days, Vala would either make him miserable for it, which he could stand.

Or she would cry.

Which he couldn’t.

And that was just what the whole thing was doing to Val.

Ben felt like the darkness inside him was eating him up from the inside out.

He hardly slept, he hardly ate, he spent all his time naked, like a raw nerve, bound upon a wheel of cold blue flame giving off neither light nor heat.

Taking him deeper into the yawning abyss.

He looked horrible, a stranger in the mirror every morning.

But when Vala decided to take a job working for the Hutts on Tattoine, even after the bad blood between them and his family.

Ben had to say something.

Vala laughed an ugly laugh.

“What, Ben? You mean this job might kill us? Death is what I’m looking for. Do you think I want to live anymore? Do you think I can? I hope you liked that light in me, little brother. Because you strangled it out of me. Death is the point of this trip. We’re leaving Sal here, and you and I and the Starkiller are going out in a blaze of glory. And I hope our niece does a better job than we do. Let’s face it, Ben. We’re farkled.”

“I can’t let you do this, Vala.”

“You can’? Why don’t you try and stop me?”

Ben put all of the power he could draw from the Force against his promise.

He met with complete failure.

“You’re so funny, Ben. See me for who I really am.”

Ben would never forget that moment when Vala revealed the true nature of the strength of the force in her.

She was like the amoral avatar of some blind, heedless ancient goddess of nature, red in tooth and claw. Her power was unfocused, vast, and overwhelming, light entwined with Dark, overlapping and merging and dividing until there was no Dark Side, no Light Side, just the pure, unadulterated Force at the heart of the universe.

It flowed through Vala, and she caught him in its highest tide, and beat him back with its strongest current.

“You’re funny, little brother. Because you’re nothing. You’re an afterthought. An afterbirth. I only hope I can die. And i sure as shit hope you can. Actually? It’s better this way. I’ll give the whole galaxy a break. Good bye, little brother. Don’t be afraid. Because I’ll be seeing you, real soon. I’ll see you in Hell.”

She kissed him goodbye,  and then he felt the tightening in his throat.

Vala’s pupils swallowed her irises and her eyes were as balck, as empty, and as pitiless as space.

He looked into them as his consciousness faded, slowly into blackness.

And when it did, he was naked, in the cold darkness of space.

Bound upon the wheel of fire.

                                                           ***

Han Solo was ready to kill his son, mad enough to strangle him, until he saw him.

He could see then, that Ben was sick, too.

Probably sicker than Vala.

Ben was taller, tall as Vader had been, but he had gotten thinner.

Ben was always a wiry kid, now he looked emaciated.

His dark eyes were sunken deep into his head, and his face was mostly obscured by an unkempt beard and moustache.

There was a terrible, haunted look in his eyes, and when he saw his father, tears spilled out of them.

Ben didn’t look like his son, he didn’t look like a 21 year old kid.

His eyes had grown haunted and ancient; and his appearance was like a man who had been thrown into prison in the mines of Ylesia, repeatedly beaten and tortured and  then finally, left to rot for decades.

For the first time in his life, Han Solo wished himself dead.

“What happened?’ Han demanded.

He grabbed Ben’s shoulders, and Ben almost buckled and fell over.

“We were on the other side of the planet. It was just another one of the usual jobs. But this one was for the Hutts. I told Vala it would be the death of us. But she didn’t care. Our deaths were what she was looking for” Ben croaked.

Ben lowered his hood.

His face was a mess

“You should have seen it after she first laid into me. Her eyes went dark, Dad. Very dark. And she raised her hand to me, and I couldn’t breathe. I started choking. I know why she did it. That’s’ what I’ve been doing to Vala. Choking the life out of her. Slowly. I didn’t try to stop her. I couldn’t have, even if I wanted to. You don’t know, dad. She has eternity, inside her. There’s no limit to what she could do with it. To you. To me. To a planet. To the galaxy. I blacked out. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a chair, and Sal was carrying Vala back into the ship. She was all bloody, and she was so still. I got the best doctor I could find. Sent her to the best hospital, Paid for the newest medical droids. They’ve tried everything. Vala’s wounds won’t heal. She won’t wake up. She’s given up, and she wants to die. If she can die. She wants to lose herself in that eternity inside her. To go back into the womb of time. Into the heart of a black hole in the centre of the universe. Where she came from.  I came from you and Mom, but Vala didn’t. She same from…from…the wheel…the wheel of fire…”

Ben moaned, and he fell forward, against his father.

“Can you do something, Luke? I think he’s delirious”

Luke put his hand against Ben’s forehead, and closed his own eyes.

It seemed like a long time to Han, before Ben opened his eyes, again.

“And it’s my fault, Dad. I’ve destroyed her. I did this to her. I did…not just something to her that a brother should never do to his sister but something a  man should never do to a woman. I was so obsessed with keeping that light inside her all to myself? You know, that sun that is Vala’s soul? I put it out. It’s all my fault.”

Han pushed Ben, then as his son fell back, Han took a step forward and pushed him, again.

Ben tottered like an old man, and almost fell over, and Han grabbed him by the jacket.

“I don’t understand you, Ben Organa Solo! I raised you right. Your mother did, too. And your Uncle. Hell, even Vader, he wouldn’t have done a thing like this! What were you thinking, kid? Did you think you could live happily ever after with your sister, like you were some royal potentate from the times before the Republic? Did you think that conning her into doing such a sick, dirty thing wouldn’t eat her up, inside? Didja think doing such a sick, dirty thing, yourself, that it wouldn’t eat you up inside, too? You look like hell, kid. You look like an old man who’s been in a Huttese jail for about fifty years. Like the Devil’s been gnawing on your soul.” Han growled.

“He has. I didn’t think, Dad. I didn’t. Not the right way, anyway.”

“Yeah, well, you bet your skinny Darth Vader wannabe ass you didn’t! Let me tell you what’s going to happen, boy! I’m taking Vala away from you. Far away. Is Sal still with her? Does he know?”

“He found out. But he wouldn’t leave her.”

“Yeah. Sal’s a good man. I raised him, too. At least one of my sons turned out right. We’re taking her away from you, Ben. And you’re going with your Uncle Luke, and getting your crazy ass straightened out. You’re gonna get all this Darth Vader, Dark Side degenerate bantha shit outa your system. Am I right, Luke?”

“Something like that, Han. I’m sorry, Ben. But it has to be this way. Not forever. But for now.”

“Do you hate me, Uncle Luke? Mom, do you hate me?”

Leia hugged her son, and Ben began to sob.

“Aww, hell, Ben! You karked yourself up and Vala, too. And what the kark made her go along with it? What did you kids do?” Han insisted.

“No, Ben. I don’t hate you. Neither Your father doesn’t hate you, either. does your Uncle Luke. We want to help you. And Vala.”

“Do you hate me, Dad?” Ben sobbed.

Han Solo threw his arms up in the air.

“Jesus, kid, give me somebody to blame! Somebody ta punch, somebody ta shoot! I don’t know what to do about a thing like this! About eternity, and torture wheels in space, torture racks in your own damn mind that you tied yourself to!  I’m not too karking thrilled with you, right now, Ben. I’m not! But look at you? I mean, I came here worried that one of my kids was dying, not both of them!  Look, just do what Luke tells you. And you hafta get some sleep, again some weight. Do…do something, kid, you look like…you’ve looked a helluva lot better, ya know?  We’ll let some time pass, and then we’ll see. But, no I don’t hate you. I can’t. You’re still my son. And you’re still a kid. But you’re my kid, as karked up as you are. You’re not all Vader’s yet.”

“Do you think you can ever forgive me, Dad?”

“I’m gonna try, Ben. Real hard. I’ll, ah, I’ll write to you. Right away. When Luke says Vala can write to you, if she wants to, I’ll let her write to you, too. Okay?”

“Okay, Dad.”

Han hugged his wife, and his son.

Luke gave them a minute and then took Ben’s hand.

“Come on, Ben. We have to go.”

“Now, Uncle Luke? What about Vala?”

“Vala needs to be with her father, now. And she has your mother to help her. And you’ll never truly be apart from Vala. But she needs to heal. And so do you. Lela, you know what to do? I need to stay with Ben.”

“I know, Luke. Take care of him for me.”

“I will. Come along, Ben. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Yes, Master Luke.”

“Uncle Luke, Ben. I’m your Uncle, first.”

“Where are we going? To some retreat?”

“No. I’m taking you home with me. You’re not well. When you’re stronger, then we’ll see to your spiritual health. Now, tell me more about this wheel of fire?”

“I don’t eat, Uncle Luke. I can’t sleep. I can’t really see you. I can’t feel the ground under my feet. I can’t feel the sand in my face, or the heat, and I can’t smell the grit in the wind. I am lost. Naked, in the blackness of space. And my body is tied to a wheel of cold blue flame, that gives off neither light nor heat. It rolls on and on through the blackness of space. Bound upon a wheel of fire.”

**The Millennium Falcon, A few days later.**

It was not material to Vala Solo if her body lived or died, in that particular moment.

She could become one with it again, living or dead, any time, and restore it.

She was curled against herself, in the heart of a black hole, in the dark, secret heart of all the universes, in all the multiverse.

Bathed in dark matter,  empty of all thoughts and becoming full of knowledge, Vala’s soul healed of its most fearsome wounds.

But then something urgent awakened her from the sleep of time.

And, from a long, long way away, Vala returned.

Through ages of history, over oceans of time and eons of space.

Back from that place, at the dead center of the universe, back from that branch on the Tree of Life, from which she had hung in search of wisdom.

She had paid for it in her blood, hanging there by Vader’s red lightsaber through her side.

Back from the arms of oblivion and the womb of time, back to the sound of her father’s voice.

She opened her eyes.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Hi, yourself, Princess.”

“Where am I?”

Han smiled.

“Home.”

“I’m on the Falcon?”

“That’s’ right. It’s just you and me, and Sal and Chewie. I docked the _Starkiller_ at Lando’s port. He’ll take good care of her. Listen, Vala, I want you to know, I’m proud of you, kid. I know what you did turned out to be the wrong thing, but you did it because you thought it was what you had to do. You took the punch. You ate the blast. And I  want you to know one more thing. It wasn’t your fault. And you shouldn’t feel guilty. Even for the times when things were good. It still wasn’t your fault. Your brother? He’s got problems. Big ones. And they weren’t the kind of problems you could solve. No matter who hard you tried. No matter what you did. Next time you see Ben going crazy, you get him straight to your Uncle Luke. Don’t try to fix him, yourself. Okay?”

“Okay, Dad.”

“So, what’s with this black outfit? And the mask?”

“It’s part of who I am, Dad. It’s not what you think. For one thing, I don’t wear it all the time. See, I don’t want to be a Sith Lord. Or a Jedi. I’m beyond that. You understand?”

“Hey, you know I understand. It all seemed crazy to me.”

“It is. Hey, Dad?”

“What, Princess?”

“Am I ever gonna feel good, again? Like I did, before?”

“You bet, kiddo. I promise.  You’re with Chewie and Sal, now. and me. We;’ll take care of you. I’ll take care of you. It might take some time, before you’re back to normal.  But you’re a Solo. More than your brother is. He’s a Skywalker, the poor bastard. But you? You’re a Solo, Vala. We can survive anything.”


End file.
